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Monday, 16 November 2015

Staying organized has never been easier.
Time to get rid of all those Post-it notes lying around. CTMH is introducing a new product line called the Everyday Life™ planner system with all sorts of products to help you stay organized.

The product line includes:

* The Everyday Life album ($13.25 CAD) is a beautiful, hard-cover 3-ring binder with black cover and gold foil design. It measures 9 3/8” x 8 ¼” x 1 ½". This size makes the album multi-purpose, allowing you to decide what you put in it. It’s not just to write in reminders and appointments, it can also be used to save memories and scrapbook pictures.

* Calendar/agenda planner pages for 2016 ($18.95 CAD): the 154 planner pages that you can put inside measure 8 3/8″ x 6 7/8″. There are 12 monthly dividers with tabs, 1 pocket folder page, 1 designed page finder, and 4 sheets of stickers. The pages are 3-ring hole punched and measure 8 3/8” x 6 7/8.” The pages include both monthly and weekly spreads that begin January 2016 and run through December 2016, printed dates help you focus in on the daily details and remember your plans for the entire month. The four sheets of colorful label stickers and a bookmark-style page finder to help you turn quickly to the current day. The pocket folder page helps you store receipts, fliers, and more.

* Roller stamp ($10.50 CAD): This roller stamp features titles, reminders, and additional images and has phrases like “shopping list,” “no school,” and “don’t forget.” Designed to coordinate with the label stickers; simply place the label sticker in your planner, and then stamp the phrase of your choice onto it.

* From December 1 to 31 there is a special discounted bundle for purchasing the album, planner pages and roller stamp together for just $35.95 CAD — a 15% discount off the retail value!

As of January 1, 2016, the following coordinating items will be available from the new Seasonal Expressions catalogue.

Pages ($9.50 CAD): A set of 60 double-sided, gorgeous My Crush pages. These pages can be combined with the planner pages to give you more room in your planner for preserving your memories. Or use them on their own to create a beautiful My Crush mini scrapbook.

Washi tape ($4.50 CAD): good for attaching photos and other memorabilia to your pages.

Memory Protectors ($7.95 CAD): two new styles sized to fit into the album. One will have two 4” x 6” pockets, the other four 4” x 3” pockets. Use these to add your favorite Picture My Life™ cards and photos into the mix!

Together, the Everyday Life line gives you ultimate flexibility in creating a planner/My Crush book/pocket album uniquely customized to you.

You are going to love this new product line. Watch this great VIDEO HERE. Contact me to order yours.

Friday, 6 November 2015

Welcome to the •MAKE•IT •Crafty• Seasonal Blog Hop! This month we will be featuring Christmas creations.

If you’ve arrived from the talented Wendy's blog Doddsydesigns you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way around. If you get lost, don't worry, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Julie's blog.

It’s easy to hop along with us – just click the link at the end of each blog post to move to the next one. Just a gentle reminder to please leave comments for the other bloggers as you hop through!

In this hop, Ottawa Close To My Heart Consultants share their creations using various CTMH products from either the Annual Inspirations catalogue or Holiday Seasonal one. These should help you get in the mood for the holidays.

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Nothing puts me in a festive mood like decorating. So here is an easy way to dress up your holiday table - Christmas crackers.

Such a great family tradition - ask the person sitting beside you to grasp their end and pull to tear the cracker apart, and POP - out come the goodies.

This cracker was made using paper from the White Pines paper pack (X7200B). I tied the ends of this one with green shimmer trim (Z3087). It is a perfect match for pear green - I used the pear cardstock to mat the tag and the 2 glitter circles come from Fundamental Assortment (Z3100).

INSTRUCTIONS
1. From the the Artiste Cricut cartridge, cut the cracker (the one above was cut at 8")

4. Form the cracker shape by taping the centre box. Then push the small bow-tie-shaped ends in towards the box, forming the ends "ruffles". (Like on right side)

5. Slip in snaps inside the cracker with ends sticking out. Glue to inside of "ruffles" so that they pull apart when the cracker is pulled. (I purchased cracker snaps from the big box craftstore.)

6. Insert little items - tissue-paper crowns, a riddle or joke, candy, and a little toy or other small gift. (Purchased at the dollar store) 7. Tie the ends together with ribbon. Any ribbon will do. (here i used shimmer trim, see below where plain gift wrapping ribbon was used.)

8. Add a tag with a holiday wish.

Last year we used crackers instead of place cards. Simply personalize each cracker according to each person's interests. Elegant snowflakes for Mamie, sweets for Grandpa, santa for Mom and trees for Dad, ornaments for the kids.

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Thank you so much for following along on our Blog Hop today! I hope you enjoyed all the lovely artwork. Now it’s time to head on over to Pam's blog and see her project! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas!

TABLESGet a full 8-foot table all to yourself. Lots of Room!! Dedicated tables will be set up near power outlets for Cricut/Silhouettes, etc. Une table de 8 pieds par croppineuse. Des tables seront installées près des prises de courant pour les appareils Cricut/Silhouettes.

MEALS /

REPAS

Pizza served at lunch will be from famous Louis restaurant. Dinner will be salad,
roll, chili with toppings, dessert. Bar will open at noon. We do not have access to a fridge, microwave or kitchen. /

Cost is $35 + meals + workshops. Return the registration form with your payment to guarantee your spot. Space is limited. Sorry, no refunds, however your spot can be transferred to a friend - just let us know.

Friday, 2 October 2015

Welcome to the •MAKE•IT •Crafty• Seasonal Blog Hop! This month we will be featuring Halloween and Fall creations.

If you’ve arrived from the talented Julie's blog the Scrapzone, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way around. If you get lost, don't worry, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Julie's blog.

It’s easy to hop along with us – just click the link at the end of each blog post to move to the next one. Just a gentle reminder to please leave comments for the other bloggers as you hop through! Enjoy.

In this hop we have 10 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using various CTMH products from either the Annual Inspirations catalogue or Holiday Seasonal one. These should help you get in the mood for Fall.

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I looove decorating for Halloween, so I created spooky pop up box cards. It's a card that stands up on its own, so you can use is as decor.

Halloween pop up cards

InstructionsTo make a pop up box card, cut a sheet of pattern paper or cardstock at 11.5" by 5.5" and cut a 1" strip into 2 pieces 4.75" long to be used as stabilizers.

To make the sides of the box take the big piece and score at 2.75", 5.50", 8".25 and 11".
To make the flaps, rotate the paper 90 degrees and score at 2.5" and fold down 3 of the sides. I corner rounded the edges.
Keeping one 1 side long and tall. This is the back.

To stabilize the box, take the 2 stabilizer pieces and score them at 1" from each end and
fold them into Z shape and glue them to the sides of the box. It looks like this.

Now comes time to decorate.

Haunted House pop up card

For the card with the haunted house, I used a sheet of Nevermore (X7198) paper. All the Halloween images were cut from the Artbooking Cricut cartridge (Z3169). For the front flap, I used some black shimmer trim and the word "Spooky" in Thistle cardstock (X5769). For the 2 slide flaps, I cut the zip strip and mat it on whisper cardstock (X5929) and popped up. The iron fence and the haunted house are glued to the stabilizers.

I also decorated the bottom with a bit of purple sparkly shimmer trim (Z1919) for when the card is closed.

Closed card

For the black card, I cut up the new see through PML (Z3175) and used them to support the ghosts so they look like they are floating in the air. The ghosts were cut using the Artistry cartridge (Z3167).

Halloween Ghost pop up card

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Thank you so much for following along on our Blog Hop today! I hope you enjoyed all the lovely artwork. Now it’s time to head on over to Diana's blog and see her gorgeous artwork! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas! Look for our next Blog Hop where we will feature beautiful projects for the Holidays, see you soon!

Saturday, 26 September 2015

For this hop we will be featuring the letter "T". This may be the name of a paper, a stamp set or an embellishment. Whatever the crafter has chosen as their "T" element will be featured in their post.

If you came from Darlys Recker'sCrafty Happyblog then you're on the right track!**********I thought of words starting with the letter "T", and came up with Trees, and Trio, so I chose to make a card using the new watercolour paper (Z3146), brushes (Z3188) and paint palette (Z3132) that CTMH now sells.

I cut a piece of watercolour paper, stamped the tree image from the Always Grateful (C1559)three times with clear Versamark ink (Z819) and sprinkled the image with embossing powder and heated it.

When the piece cooled down, I used the large watercolour brush to use a "wet on wet" technique. The brush glides really well on this paper when it is already wet. First I dipped the brush into water, then using large brush strokes I started painting over the trees with medium blue at the top, followed by paler blue, then in the middle of the paper I used the yellowy green paint and then painted bottom section with a browny-green paint.

When my watercolour piece was dry, I mat it on Kraft cardstock (Z1375) and adhered to the card base (X254).

TIP:
You can change up the card by choosing different paint colours, for example use orange and pinks for a sunset, or greys, dark blues and purple for a twilight sky.**********

Your next stop on our Everything ABC'S blog hop is Linda Norman's blog, Scrappy Therapy. This is also the place to go in case you get lost along the way… or for a complete list of participants!

Saturday, 12 September 2015

For this hop we will be featuring the letter S. This may be the name of a paper, a stamp set or an embellishment. Whatever the crafter has chosen as their "S" element will be featured in their post.

If you came from Darlys Recker'sCrafty Happyblog then you're on the right track!**********
I thought of words starting with the letter S, and came up with Sentiments, which made me think of Sincere Sympathy, so I chose the large flower on the September Stamp of the Month called Paper Garden (S1509) to make a card.

CTMH now sells watercolour paper (Z3146), brushes (Z3188) and paint palette (Z3132). So I decided to give it a try. Here is what I came up with.

Sincere Sympathy

I cut a piece of watercolour paper and stamped the large flower with clear Versamark ink (Z819) and sprinkled the image with embossing powder and heated it.

When it had cooled down, I used the large watercolour brush to use a "wet on wet" technique, so the background will be hazy and colours will blend. First I dipped the brush into water, then using large brush strokes I wet the top quarter of the paper.

Then I did a "flat wash", dipping the tip of the brush bristles into purple watercolour and slathered the paint across that wet area using broad strokes. The brush glides really well on this paper when it is already wet.

I repeated the process with the next segment of paper with a lighter purple, then grey in the middle and a deep green at the bottom.

TIP:
If you find the colours get too bright or saturated for your project, just dip the brush in water and pass over the image and it softens the intensity of the shade. That's what I did when my stripes were a bit too obvious, I wanted a softer more muted ombre effect.

When my watercolour piece was dry, I double mat it on Daisy white cardstock (1385) and thistle cardstock (X5759) and adhered to the card base (X254). I added 3 little black gems (Z1734) to the bottom to help finish it off.

Simple enough, right?

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Your next stop on our Everything ABC'S blog Hop is Stephanie Feist's blog Quilted Scrapper.
In case you get lost along the way… go to Scrappy Therapy for a complete list of participants!

Tuesday, 8 September 2015

No I'm not talking about tattoos, of course I mean ink for stamping.CTMH has 5 different types of ink - ever wonder why? Each type has a different use and qualities, so you can be sure that you are using the best ink for each project.So which one should you use - depends on what you are working on... here' are the ABCs of inks...

Our Exclusive Inks™ stamp pads, including our Black Exclusive Inks pads, are water-based dye inks. The dye ink absorbs directly into your paper and allows the colors to blend easily with the material. They dry quickly and blend easily. These inks are recommended for most stamping projects, but not for projects where you plan on using watercolors or coloring with alcohol markers after stamping the image.

Pigment inks behave differently from dye inks, in that they settle on top of your material rather than soaking into it. This allows you to stamp lighter colors on darker materials and to keep the true color of the ink pad when stamping on another color. Though they take longer to dry, when dried, they work well for coloring in with your markers or watercolor inks, as the pigment inks will form a permanent bond and will resist blending when you color over them.

StazOn™ is specifically formulated for stamping on non-porous materials. Because StazOn is solvent-based, this ink works well when stamping an image that you will later color over with watercolors, but it is not ideal for use with alcohol markers. CTMH sells it in both black and brown.Memento™ Tuxedo Black ink pad

The Memento™ ink pad gives you another archival quality ink pad that works for any stamping project and can be used with alcohol markers, watercolors, or any of our other coloring options.

Mark Saturday October 24, 2015 on your calendar. Come crop for 12 hours from 10am to 10pm !The A.R.T. hall at 13, rue du Curé-Labelle is just 15 minute drive along highway 50 from the LCBO on Rideau/King Edward. This bilingual event is open to all crafters! Show your creativity and wear a costume.

TABLES
Get a full 8-foot table all to yourself. Lots of Room!! Dedicated tables will be set up near power outlets for Cricut/Silhouettes, etc. Une table de 8 pieds par croppineuse. Des tables seront installées près des prises de courant pour les appareils Cricut/Silhouettes.

MEALS /

REPAS

There is no kitchen. Bring your lunch. Dinner will be salad, roll, chili and its fixings and dessert $10.

Thursday, 3 September 2015

Each month, CTMH releases a special stamp set available for that month only. You can purchase the (Stamp of the Month) SOTM for only $6 when you place an order of $50 or more in Close To My Heart products.

September's SOTM is called Paper Garden. It has 9 images and the shapes outlined in red can be cut using the Cricut Artistry cartridge.

The Annual Inspirations catalogue is packed full to the brim with the scrapbooking, cardmaking, and stamping products you need and love. This is your go-to publication and it is so much more than a catalogue — it’s an idea book! You’ll find creative tips and techniques, full-color artwork with recipes available online as well as project kits. It truly is an "idea" book that will inspire you.Measuring 8½" × 11", it contains large photos, beautiful art, and stamp sets pictured at 100% of their size. You’ll find new products identified with a "new" icon next to them. You’ll also find information on the Consultant opportunity, our Hostess Rewards program, as well as a table of contents
and an index listing all the products. Check it out now!

The Holiday Expressions is asupplemental idea book filled with all your Fall and Winter holiday products and ideas. Although there are less pages, it is the same size as the annual idea book, 8½" × 11". It contains

Tuesday, 1 September 2015

September is National Stamping Month, and this year CTMH has something to help every kind of papercrafter say a big “hello” to life!

During September, you can purchase three exclusive stamp sets called "Hello, Life!"

Each C-size stamp set is designed to fit with a specific type of papercrafting, whether that’s scrapbooking, cardmaking, or pocket scrapbooking. All the stamp sets coordinate with each other and also coordinate with shapes from the new Cricut® Artistry collection.

Available only until September 30th, these stamp sets can be purchased for $16.50 CAD each. Or for an even better deal, you can purchase all three for only $41.50 CAD—a savings of $8 CAD!

Make certain to follow Close To My Heart’s s blog, Instagram, and Facebook pagefor artwork inspiration featuring these lively stamp sets all month long. You can post your own artwork to your social media channels using the hashtag #ctmhHelloLife.

TABLESGet a full 8-foot table all to yourself. Lots of Room!! Dedicated tables will be set up near power outlets for Cricut/Silhouettes, etc. Une table de 8 pieds par croppineuse. Des tables seront installées près des prises de courant pour les appareils Cricut/Silhouettes.

MEALS /

REPAS

We
do not have access to a fridge or microwave or kitchen. Pizza served at lunch
will be from Louis Pizza. /

Sign
up for one or both. Card
taught by Spy Tsoukalas and mini-album taught by me.

Prenez-en un, ou tous les deux. Les ateliers seront bilingues.

REGISTER by September 1/ INSCRIPTION
d’ici le 1er septembre 2015

Cost is $35 + meals + workshops. Return the registration form with your payment to guarantee your spot. Space is limited. Sorry, no refunds, however your spot can be transferred to a friend - just let us know.